


You're Ingrained In My Skin

by curlsandcrown



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1940s, Alternate Universe - World War II, F/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 19:08:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15346593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curlsandcrown/pseuds/curlsandcrown
Summary: In the middle of a major war, Betty meets a pilot who will change her life forever.





	You're Ingrained In My Skin

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a mini series consisting of only a few chapters!   
> Warnings: Description of war and trauma to the body.

**1942**

The news of Pearl Harbor was such a shock that it haunts her for days. Every time she walked by a radio, they were talking about the men trapped in the battleships in the harbor, the death count creeping up each time they weren’t able to save someone. It woke her up. The need to go to college and do something that would please her mother went out the window with this overcoming desire to go and help, to be useful and have a purpose even if it meant that she went out to the most dangerous part of the war.

So she joined the Army and packed a bag.

During her training, she meets a lovely girl from New York named Veronica and they became extremely close as they move from hospitals to field hospitals to gain experience that they’ll need.

* * *

 

**February 1944  
** Currently, she’s cleaning up an area in a mobile airfield hospital while they are stationed in a small area of England. Sunlight is streaming through the windows, casting rays on the metal tray that she’s carefully arranging. The blonde thought her little town was cold during the winter but she quickly learned that it was at a whole different level in this country. Her hand comes up to her opposite side to rub it in a sad attempt to warm the appendage up before continuing down the rows to make sure the beds are in orderly fashion.

Sirens begin to sound, pulling her out of her musing and she turns, her eyes connecting with Veronica’s who was fixing up a bed at the end of the row. They both head towards the door to run outside, checking if there are any soldiers incoming.

Looking up, a small swarm shows up far in the distance, dark spots against the bright blue sky. All of a sudden, bullets are hitting the ground, causing loud thuds as they come from the sky and they run inside to begin preparing for anything that might come in. She pulls her blonde hair up into a ponytail then pulls an apron on, not wanting to destroy another uniform.

It doesn’t take long before men are yelling out in agony as they approach the tent of their makeshift hospital. Betty moves around to patch up the less critical patients so that they can return outside. Just as she finishes up with one young man, a doctor yells for her to come over and help support a redheaded man that is leaning on a taller man who looks like a pilot based on his uniform. Betty pulls the wounded man to a stretcher while his friend yells out, backing out into the hallway.

“I’ll be back, Arch! I have to find Reggie.” With a quick spin and a blur of dark inky hair, he flees from the tent.

She watches him over her shoulder as he leaves towards field, bullets still thudding against the ground outside and turns towards the man in front of her as Veronica comes to assist. The dark haired nurse is snipping the man’s undershirt so they can assess his wound that is rapidly spreading blood to the white cotton while Betty is taking his vital signs. All of a sudden, the redhead grabs her friend’s wrist while he’s gasping in pain before she can move onto his pants, since the wound seems to extend down towards his hip.

“I am not wearing any underwear.”

They both stare at him incredulously and Veronica replies with “excuse me?”

In any other situation, she would have laughed and be intrigued by what happens next. Betty had heard of the soulmate markings that had been spreading and showing up the last few years but had only seen a handful at home with people her age. In her experience, even her brief time as a nurse, she had never seen the moment it happened - only having seen random words marked on very few soldiers arms as she tended to them.

Veronica gasps in shock as the first words he says to her appear on the wrist that is currently holding the scissors. Her friend has a mix of awe and horror as dark eyes look at her skin then move to the man’s wrist that Betty is currently holding. The words begin to appear on his skin underneath her fingertips that are monitoring his pulse - which is now completely erratic then she smiles to her friend.

“I’ll let you to take care of Mr. No Skivvies over here,” she says with a light laugh, knowing he’s in good hands despite the circumstances and moves towards the next doctor that looks like he needs help.

* * *

 

As the evening sets in, she pulls on a cardigan as a few more men come in to visit the other patients. The man she saw earlier moves towards the gentleman named Archie as Veronica checks his bandages while also getting to know each other.

“How are you feeling, Arch?” He asks, a little out of breath.

“Besides my side hurting, good. This beauty is my soulmate.” He gives a boyish, All-American grin to her friend and Betty can’t help but smile as she sets aside some gauze and clean bandages for him in the morning.

The dark haired man furrows his eyebrows. “How do you meet your soulmate in the middle of a war?” With a pause, he chuckles and it warms her heart for some reason to hear the sound. “Only you, Arch,” he replies with a slight sway.

“Are you okay?” Archie leans forward but hisses in pain before he can reach out to his friend.

Betty and her friend lock eyes again before she moves forward to look at him, bringing a light closer to his face. He looks pale with bags underneath his eyes and she hears something drip on the ground. As her eyes assess his lower half, she notices blood running down his pants leg. Instantly, she looks up into his stormy blue eyes.

“You’ve been shot!”

“Jughead!” His friend yells from the bed before the man collapses onto the floor.

She surges forward to make sure he doesn’t hit his head then holds pressure where she thinks the wound is, blood beginning to turn her sleeves a light red as a doctor rushes over. Two men come over and together they all lift him on a stretcher.

Her body betrays her as she looks at his leg, the lean muscle that is there no doubt from his training with the army. Betty moves her eyes to his face, Jughead her mind whispers. There’s a curl hanging on his forehead while his blue eyes are hidden away beneath his eyelids. Even with his pale complexion, she can’t help but think he’s the most handsome man that she has ever seen. Soon the doctor’s voice is interrupting her thoughts, causing her eyes to snap up to him instead of the patient on the stretcher.

“Damn, it looks like his femoral vein got nicked, at least it’s a through and through,” the doctor mutters before she looks at him. “We need to take him to surgery. Thanks for the help, Betty.”

Her eyes move over Jughead’s face as he becomes even more pale and she nods before stepping away. Betty moves past everyone towards a station where she can wash her hands and gets rid of her sweater, thankful that her family had managed to send another one. She’s scrubbing her wrists and has nearly scrubbed one area raw before she pulls it up to her eyes. In the darkness she sees small letters along her left wrist saying ‘you have been shot.’

With a gasp, she finishes cleaning up before moving over to wait for him to come out of surgery now that they’re connected together in more ways than one.


End file.
